Uriah Hall gets hometown favorite John Howard at UFC on FS 1

After losing original opponent Nick Ring, it looks like UFC middleweight Uriah Hall has yet another new adversary on tap for his post-TUF debut after word surfaced stating Josh Samman had been replaced by John Howard. The bout will mark Howard’s return to the Octagon after two-year run on the regional scene where he compiled a 6-1 record.

Though not confirmed, the Boston Herald reported the change had been made to the UFC Fight Night 1 lineup (formerly UFC on FS 1). The card is set for August 17 in Boston where Howard also happens to hail from.

“Doomsday” has finished 15 of the opponents he’s beaten with a nice balance between TKOs/submissions. Howard (20-8) started his UFC career out with four straight wins before losing his last three and getting released from the roster.

Hall made a name for himself on TUF 17 thanks to a number of highlight-reel finishes. Though he suffered a Split Decision stumble in the final, the 7-3 is still seen as a prospect with significant potential and recently made a move to start training with Black House MMA.

This is supposed to be a showcase fight for Hall. Howard is an easy guy to talk up as long as you don’t look too closely at his record. His 4 fight win streak in the UFC was against guys that are no longer in the UFC (or competing at all) and two of them were controversial splits and another was a hail mary KO landed in the final seconds of a fight he was getting beat in the entire time. His wins outside the Octagon are against .500 fighters at best. At 5’7″ he’s also the smallest MW in the UFC and was never considered very big at WW either.

This is a good paper win for Hall that should also produce a fun fight.